Abstract
THE structural laws to be described, though independent of theory, may be derived from certain general principles arising out of a diffusion-pressure theory of the kidney. This theory has already been developed to some extent1. The principles of derivation are as follows: (a) The renal secretory cells are equivalent in action throughout the Mammalia, and their function is to create a diffusion pressure of urea, etc., in the direction of the lumen. (b) The shape of the kidney and the relations of tubule length to renal length remain uninfluenced by body weight. (c) The mammalian kidney is so constructed that the mean blood and urine concentrations remain independent of the size of the animal.
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References
See Conway, E. J., and Kane, F., J. Physiol., 61, 595 (1926); Conway, E. J., Amer. J. Physiol., 88, 1 (1929).
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CONWAY, E. Structural Laws of the Mammalian Kidney, with a Theoretical Derivation. Nature 139, 250–251 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139250b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139250b0
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